The Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education A review of the first phase 2002-2004
Siri Lange
R 2005:5
The Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education A review of the first phase 2002-2004
Siri Lange
R 2005: 5
Chr. Michelsen Institute Development Studies and Human Rights
CMI Reports This series can be ordered from: Chr. Michelsen Institute P.O. Box 6033 Postterminalen, N-5892 Bergen, Norway Tel: + 47 55 57 40 00 Fax: + 47 55 57 41 66 E-mail: cmi@cmi.no www.cmi.no Price: NOK 50 ISSN 0805-505X ISBN 82-8062-111-3 This report is also available at: www.cmi.no/publications
Indexing terms Culture Education Tanzania
Project number 24064
Project title
Norad: Gjennomgang Norads Kulturstøtteprogram
Š Chr. Michelsen Institute 2005
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INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
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PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................. 4 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8
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VARIATIONS IN TERMS OF OUTPUT................................................................................................15 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS HAVE DIFFERENT NEEDS..................................................16 PRIORITIES OF INSTITUTIONS IN THE SOUTH ................................................................................17 RECRUITMENT OF STUDENTS.........................................................................................................18
RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................................................................21 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6
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DHOW COUNTRIES M USIC A CADEMY, ZANZIBAR........................................................................4 M ODERN MUSIC AT BAGAMOYO COLLEGE OF A RTS...................................................................6 CULTURAL HERITAGE AND TOURISM IN BAGAMOYO ...................................................................7 NATIONAL BALLET OF ZIMBABWE /DANCE FOUNDATION ..........................................................9 A RT A CADEMY WITHOUT WALLS – ZAMBIA ..............................................................................10 FORMAL DEGREES IN CHORAL CONDUCTING, SOUTH A FRICA..................................................11 PH.D COURSE IN CHORAL CONDUCTING, SOUTH A FRICA ..........................................................12 INSTRUMENT MAKING FOR STUDENTS FROM ZIMBABWE ..........................................................13
PROGRAMME RESULTS AND LOCAL PRIORITIES ..........................................................15 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4
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THE CULTURAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME .....................................................................................1 OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME...................................................................................................1 M ETHODOLOGY AND APPROACH.....................................................................................................2 ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT ......................................................................................................3
BINDING CONTRACTS AND PLANS FOR POST -STUDIES EMPLOYMENT ......................................21 “SANDWHICH” DEGREES SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED ..................................................................22 IMPROVE CO -ORDINATION..............................................................................................................23 UNIVERSITY LEVEL REQUIREMENT SHOULD BE REMOVED........................................................23 LESS EMPHASIS ON WORKSHOPS...................................................................................................25 ENCOURAGE EXPANSION OF CO-OPERATION THROUGH THE PEACE CORPS............................26
CONCLUDING REMARKS ...............................................................................................................28 A PPENDIX 1. LIST OF INTERVIEWS................................................................................................................30 A PPENDIX 2. TERMS OF REFERENCE.............................................................................................................32
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1 Introduction 1.1 The cultural education programme This report is a review of the first phase of the Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education. The programme was established in 2002, and is administered by Norwegian Council for Higher Education (Universitets- og høgskolerådet UHR) through Centre for International University Co-operation (Senter for internasjonalt universitetssamarbeid, SIU). The present report covers all together eight projects in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. The Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education has a budget of NOK 5 millions per year. Of this, SIU receives 7,5 percent for administration costs. SIU has extensive experience with administration of such projects, since they have been in charge of Norad’s scholarship programme since 1998 and administers a total of ten international programmes. The agreement on the administration of the Programme in Arts and Cultural Education was signed as a supplementary agreement of the main agreement on the scholarship programme.
1.2 Objectives of the programme The Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education was established after extensive debates on how support to the cultural sector had been organised up to then, and how it should be dealt with in the future. One forum for debate was the 1999 seminar “Music co-operation between Norway and the South – What did we learn? Where did we go?” where participants from music cooperation partners in Norway, Africa, Asia and Latin America participated. One of the recommendations from the seminar was that exchange programmes should be used to “generate sustainable institutional development in the South by spending resources locally.” 1 As part of the process of establishing the new programme under SIU, the visions of the new programme were presented and discussed at a seminar in 2001, emphasising the following main objectives: 2 • To strengthen the cultural institutions in the partner countries • To contribute to the professionalisation of the artists and the art forms The last point would, it was argued, enhance the social status of the artists and their possibilities of securing an income. The program would not offer individual scholarships, but support co-operation between higher education institutions in the South and in Norway, with the Norwegian partner being 1
Norad rapport 1999/2. Argument forwarded by Prof. Odd Are Berkaak. www.norad.no 25 04 02, and “Visions for the Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education”, by Sissel Volan. 2
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responsible for the contract, budgets, reporting and so on. The programme was limited to projects with institutions in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Ongoing projects in South Africa and Zimbabwe would receive continued support, however. The subject areas were defined as cultural heritage, dance, drama/theatre, music, and visual arts/sculpture. The invitation for applications under the new cultural programme had the following wording: “The aim of the programme is to contribute towards the professionalisation of artists and art forms in the South and to contribute towards giving artists and cultural workers increased confidence in their own knowledge, creativity and performance. The aim is also to contribute towards reciprocal learning between institutions and professional environments in Norway and in the South.” 3 Applications for funding were screened by a committee put in place by UHR. The committee had one representative from each of the Norwegian universities and one member to represent the colleges (høgskoler). Seven applications received funding, of which five were continuations of cooperations that had been established under the former Department of Culture; the NOTA project with Bagamoyo College of Arts in Tanzania, the Art Academy without Walls project in Zambia, the Dance Foundation in Zimbabwe, and two projects on choral conducting in South Africa. The two entirely new projects were both in Tanzania; co-operation with Dhow Countries Music Academy in Zanzibar and cultural heritage and tourism in Bagamoyo. In addition, funding was provided for an ongoing project; scholarships for ten Zimbabweian students studying at the Music Instrument Academy.
1.3 Methodology and approach The main purpose of this review is to assess whether the programme has been conducted according to the agreement and to what degree the Programme in Arts and Cultural Education has strengthened the arts and cultural sector in the countries in question (see terms of reference, appendix 2, for more details). The study is based on a desk study of documents made available by SIU and the participating institutions, as well as interviews with representatives for the projects. Tanzania was selected as a case study because it is the partner country with the highest number of projects, and because the consultant has extensive research experience from the cultural sector of this country, including six months at Bagamoyo College of Arts. 4 The four institutions in Tanzania that have been involved in the programme were visited during the first week of November. From the Norwegian side, representatives of all the institutions were interviewed either face to face (five 3 4
Utlysning av ledige midler i programmet 2002-2005. Publications 1995, 1999, 2002a and 2002b (available through BIBSYS).
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institutions) or by telephone (three institutions). The consultant also met with six students from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania presently studying in Norway. All in all, 34 interviews were conducted, lasting 30 – 90 minutes (see appendix 1 for a full list of interviews). Apart from two group interviews, all interviews were done individually to secure privacy and encourage openness. Swahili speaking respondents who preferred to use this language, were encouraged to do so. The consultant highly appreciates the hospitality and help from all stake holders who shared their time and views.
1.4 Organisation of the report The overall goal of this report is to give an assessment of how the programme has functioned so far and to draw on the experiences made in order to improve it for a second term. In order to achieve this, a balance must be struck between looking at the individual projects – their successes, challenges and failures - and the lessons that can be drawn from the programme as a whole the potentials for a better use of the resources to achieve the goals of the programme. Chapter two presents each of the eight projects; the activities, funding and results so far. Chapter three discusses some general issues concerning output and presents the views and priorities of the institutions in the south. Chapter four takes a closer look at the challenges the partners have met during their co-operation and the lessons we can learn from this for a second phase of the programme. Chapter five concludes the report with a brief discussion of the administrative set-up of the programme.
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2 Programme activities Of the five subject areas of the programme, music and dance have proved the most popular for co-operation. Among partner countries, Tanzania stand out as having three projects, while there are two in Zimbabwe (one of them now completed), two in South Africa, and one in Zambia. Some of the projects are continuations of former long term co-operation. This is true for the cooperation between Statens Kunstakademi and the National Visual Arts Council (Zambia) as well as Stavanger Musikkhøgskole and Bagamoyo College of Arts (Tanzania). The latter project also involves co-operation through the Norwegian Peace Corps. In this chapter, however, we will focus on the activities that have received support through SIU. Since the field visit was made to Tanzania, co-operations with institutions in this country will be more fully covered than the others.
2.1 Dhow Countries Music Academy, Zanzibar Høgskolen i Agder (HIA) Agder University College, Faculty of Music and Fine Arts
Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA), Zanzibar
Other partners are University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Department of Fine and Performing Arts, and Bagamoyo College of Arts (BCA). Dhow Countries Music Academy is a non-profit, non-governmental institution established in 2002 at the initiative of Emmerson Skeens, one of the leading figures in the International Film Festival of Zanzibar. The school provides music lessons to children and adults at an affordable fee. The school has 70 active students and a pool of teachers who teach one or several classes. Particular emphasis is placed on teaching traditional Zanzibar music styles. The academy’s main sponsor is the Ford Foundation.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The main objective of the project is to support the efforts of DCMA to build a formal music education in Zanzibar (funding 2002-2004: NOK 1 093 045). The project has three main components: 1. Music Education for Children Three one week long workshops have been conducted. Each workshop has had 14 -21 participants from the follo wing institutions: teachers at nursery/primary schools in Zanzibar (7), students at UDSM (5), teachers from BCA (2), students/staff from teachers colleges (3), teachers and technicians from DCMA, and bureaucrats (1). The facilitators have been two teachers and one student from HIA, as well as experts on storytelling from South Africa.
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2. Training in sound engineering and recording skills. Technicians at DCMA have learned recording techniques in connection to the Music Education for Children component. Childrens’ songs have been recorded, transcribed and compiled for publication. 3. Musical training and cross-over. A number of exchange visits have been conducted. Teachers and students from Norway have come to Zanzibar in connection with the workshops there, and three representatives from DCMA have visited Norway and conducted workshops on taarab 5 and ngoma6 in Kristiansand. In addition, two students from Agder stayed at DCMA for one month. The students, one male and one female, gave guitar and cello lessons and assisted in going through the exam requirements of these instruments. The project also covers tuition fees for 5 students at DCMA, and has provided the school with a cello and other equipment.
Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism The director of DCMA, Hildegard Kiel, says the project has strengthened the institution through the exchange visits, and by enabling them to hire extra staff. The support to the running of the school helps secure quality education to the students and satisfactory wage conditions for the teachers. Although the academy has a number of sponsors, the director considers the support through the Norad programme as “very important.” Through the workshops on music education for children, seven teachers at local nursery/primary schools have learned new pedagogical techniques for music training. The consultant interviewed two of them, who said that they enjoyed the workshops very much. One of them had started taking classes at DCMA. However, since music is not on the curriculum in kindergartens or primary schools, there is no guarantee that participants will make use of their new skills at the institutions where they work, and none of them confirmed that they had done so.7 Participants from UDSM and BCA also liked the workshops, but said that they were “over qualified”, not really learning much. The students from UDSM also questioned when they would get to use the skills learned. Rather than thinking of teaching fellow students, or use the skills in their further work, they suggested that Norad should sponsor a workshop where they could try out the methods with children. While the Music Education for Children component is a project that is meant to have a long-term perspective and may not have immediate results, the musical training offered to DCMA staff by two Norwegians students have had immediate impact. The instructor who received cello training told the consultant that he had appreciated it very much and that had reached a good 5
Taarab is a musical style developed at Zanzibar in the 1880s fusing Egyptian, African and Indian rhythms. It is accompanied by sung poetry. 6 Ngoma is a Swahili word denoting a musical event involving drums, dance, and often call and response song. 7 According to Tanzania’s Cultural Policy, music should be a subject at all levels of education, but this has not yet been implemented.
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level after continuing practicing on his own. He is now able to teach his students to play this instrument. The administrative report of the Academy emphasises the importance of the project buying a cello for the academy since they did not have one and since the cello is among the instruments disappearing from the taarab scene, being replaced by synthesizers.
2.2 Modern music at Bagamoyo College of Arts Musikkhøgskolen i Stavanger (HIS) Stavanger University College, School of Arts Education
Bagamoyo College of Arts (BCA), Tanzania
Bagamoyo College of Arts (BCA) offers three year diploma courses in dance, music and theatre. All students get basic training in the above subjects as well as fine art and acrobatics. In recent years, the college has also started to offer short courses (3-9 months). BCA is the only college of its kind in East Africa and is in the process of becoming Centre of Excellence in the region. The college was established in 1981 by the Tanzanian government. Over the years, the college has received funding from SIDA, Norad, and a number of other donors. The school has 90 students and 38 teachers. When the school was started, the great majority of the teachers were former employees of the National Performing Company, whose members had been recruited for their traditionally achieved skills in ngoma dance and/or music. Most of them have little or no formal education, but this group has included famous musicians like the late Hukwe Zawose. With the present government regulations, all new teachers are required to have a university degree and all posts are supposed to be advertised. BCA and Musikkhøgskolen i Stavanger have collaborated since 1997 through the Norad sponsored NOTA project (NOTA stands for Norway-Tanzania). There have been a number of exchange visits and workshops over the years, focusing on the modern music department of BCA. A COWI evaluation of the NOTA project conducted in 2003 is overall positive and concludes that the project “has contributed to capacity development at BCA”. However, the evaluation also points out weaknesses like lack of organisational perspective and inadequate monitoring of the actual results of the activities. 8 Another COWI review, commissioned by the Swedish Embassy in Dar es Salaam in 2002 and focusing on BCA itself, is critical of the financial management of the school and the lack of effective staff development.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The main objective of the project is to strengthen the competence in the field of music, dance and sound production at BCA (funding 2002-2004: NOK 1 138 980). The funding is first of all used to sponsor newly graduated students from BCA to study in Stavanger. Compared to Norwegian students, however, the Tanzanian students have a too poor background in practical musical skills to be able to pass Norwegian exams at university level. They 8
Final evaluation of NOTA project. COWI, December 2003.
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therefore follow a specially tailored programme and receive a special diploma which states the subjects that they have taken. 1. Sound production – 1 year. Male student, completed 2004, now at BCA. 2. Modern music – 2 years. Female student, in her second year. 3. Modern Dance – 2 years. Male student, in his second year.
Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism The intention of the project is that the students will become new teachers at BCA when they have completed their studies in Stavanger. Student 1 is presently working at BCA, but not in a permanent position since he does not have a degree. Unlike his colleagues who are paid a salary by the Ministry, he is only paid an allowance (posho) directly by the college.9 The monthly pay, Tsh. 100 000 (NOK 612) is extremely low and not enough to keep him there if he should get other attractive offers. Student 3, still studying in Stavanger, faces the same problem. BCA will not be allowed to employ him, even if they want, since he does not have formal qualifications. The student himself is worried about this situation. He regrets that even after two years at HIA, he will not get a formal degree. In the case of student 2, this is not a problem, since she is already a government employee and can be transferred to BCA. Both the student herself and the principal would be happy for this solution. All three students appear to have close ties with, and loyalty to their home institution, something that makes it likely that they will return if offered a position.
2.3 Cultural heritage and tourism in Bagamoyo Norsk hotellhøgskole Norwegian School of Hotel Management, Stavanger University College (HIS)
Bagamoyo College of Arts (BCA)
University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)
This project was initially planned as a co-operation between Norwegian School of Hotel Management and Bagamoyo College of Arts. The idea was to develop short courses on cultural heritage and tourism at BCA (and in Zambia), to be offered to up to 100 students each year. The programme committee of SIU suggested that the project be redefined to a research project and that Tanzanian institutions that were already working on these themes should be involved. In 2003, representatives from Hotellhøgskolen visited Tanzania and signed agreements with BCA, UDSM, The Antiquities Station in Bagamoyo and the National College of Tourism. As it turned out, only the first three institutions were actively involved in the research. 10
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The college earns money from short courses for Tanzanians and private tuition to foreign students. 10 The Antiquities Station ended up being less involved than planned, since they claim to have been informed about the fieldwork on a very short notice. One staff member did participate in
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Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The main objective of the project is to create awareness and understanding of the symbiotic interrelationship between cultural heritage and tourism (funding 2002-2004: 640 262). After Hotellhøgskolen had been informed by the SIU committee that they should focus on research, the Norwegian researchers developed a research proposal and a questionnaire. Drafts were circulated to the Tanzanian partners who provided input during the process. In July 2004, an extensive survey was conducted in Bagamoyo. The interviews were conducted by staff and students from UDSM as well as staff from BCA (three from each institution). The survey had 523 respondents from different categories of town dwellers and covered themes like income, community participation, health, and attitudes towards tourism. The students from UDSM were also involved in data collection from the Africana library and other sources. The survey results were entered into a SPSS database by one of the partners from Norway who also wrote a quantitative report of the findings. A qualitative report was written by another participant from the north. The results of the survey will be discussed at a workshop prior to next years’ annual festival at BCA, and the results will be presented to the public in Bagamoyo. Dr. Nyonyi at UDSM and Juma Bakari, Principal at BCA, will write a paper on the history of Bagamoyo. Prof. Reidar Mykletun at HIS will write academic journal articles on the findings.
Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism Staff and students at UDSM and BCA who participated in the project are happy with it and say that it has helped them learn new research techniques. Both institutions emphasise ownership of the project, they felt that their priorities were respected. At the same time however, they regret that they were not involved in the data processing, which would have given them a chance to learn SPSS. A copy of this data processing programme was left with them, but is of little benefit as long as they do not know how to use it. The degree to which the two institutions were actually strengthened by the project is therefore unclear. It appears that their actual role in the project was first of all that of facilitation, translations as well as conducting the interviews – a role commonly performed by research assistants. As part of the project, the principal of BCA, Juma Bakari, has been inspired to do a Ph.D on cultural heritage but funding is not yet secured.11 It is the opinion of the consultant that the wealth of material collected during the survey, and the resources spent, could have come to a much better use if MA (or Ph.D) students from Tanzania and Norway had been involved in the research right from the start. While the involvement of BCA may have been beneficial to the project since they know the town well, BCA is not a research institution and it is doubtful the research but he has since left the office. It is unclear why National College of Tourism is no longer involved in the project. 11 Juma Bakari has a MA in theatre studies from England.
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whether they will make much use of the skills learned. Neither does the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at UDSM seem like an ideal partner for research on the given themes, which are closer to history, anthropology, and development studies. There is no doubt that the two institutions are relevant for the intangible cultural heritage aspect of the project (dance, storytelling etc), but that was not the focus of the survey. Both UDSM and BCA are ideal for dissemination of the results, however, since they have extensive experience in community theatre.
2.4 National Ballet of Zimbabwe/Dance Foundation Statens Ballethøgskole (SBH), Oslo College of the Arts (KHIO), Department of Ballet and Dance
National Ballet of Zimbabwe (NBZ)/ Dance Foundation Course (DFC)
The National Ballet of Zimbabwe/Dance Foundation is a non-governmental organization with historical roots in white amateur ballet. After 1981, the organization opened up for Africans, a three-year dance school in modern dance was established, as well as an outreach programme for disadvantaged communities. The institution hosts the most famous dance company of the country, Tumbuka.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The main objectives of the project are to provide students from Zimbabwe with a formal education at University College level in dance and choreography, strengthen the institutional dialogue between the two partner institutions, as well as to contribute to internationalisation of KHIO (funding 2002-2004 NOK 1 666 840). The funding covers scholarships for three graduates from DFC to study at SBH. 1. Choreographer programme. One male student attended the final year of this programme. He made his successful choreographic exam work with the Tumbuka company and was examined by censors from SBH and Zimbabwe. 2. Bachelor of dance programme, 3-years. Two male students, both in their third year. The partner institutions have developed a syllabus for a course in traditional dance and music for international students to be held at Zimbawe College of Music and DFC. They also plan to expand the collaboration with mutual exchange through the Peace Corps programme.
Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism The project has achieved their own central objectives; to provide students from Zimbabwe with formal education and to develop the institutional cooperation. However, the student who has completed his studies presently works in Norway and not at DCF, and the two remaining students say that 9
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they too have other aspirations than going back to Zimbabwe when they have completed their studies. In order to have the home institution benefit as much as possible, the students’ contracts with SBA and DFC require them to teach and participate in DFC activities during their holidays in Zimbabwe. This system appears to have worked well. Among the factors that hinder students from returning permanently to DFC are students’ wishes to develop further, the political situation in Zimbabwe, and the unattractive economic terms offered by DFC.
2.5 Art Academy without Walls – Zambia Statens Kunstakademi (SKA), Oslo National College of the Arts (KHIO), Department of Fine Art
Zambia National Visual Arts Council (VAC)
Zambia National Visual Arts Council is a non-governmental organization with head office in Lusaka and branches in all the nine provinces. The head office has a permanent staff of six. The council has cooperated with Statens Kunstakademi since 1996 on a series of practical workshops sponsored by Norad. Support for a second phase of the programme was granted from the Programme in Arts and Cultural Education. In addition, two students from VAC has been accepted as quota students at SKA. They are both in their fourth year.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The main objective of the project is to continue developing the artistic skills of Zambian artists. A series of workshops (each lasting three weeks) provide capacity building for a group of artists from all over the country in areas like screen-printing, etching, photography, drawing, painting and sculpture and aim at educating the participants in entrepreneurship in the arts as business. After four years, participants will be offered to take an exam which, if passed, will give them a diploma. The partners will use the Rjykas Academy in Amsterdam as external examiner. The project also offers three six month long fellowships at SKA (funding 2002-2004: NOK 917 439). 1. Workshop on drawing and performance, 2003. Three weeks. 25 participants from all over the country. 2. Workshop on photography, 2004. The same group as above, but now numbering 16, due to deaths and withdrawal. 3. Fellowship at SKA in digital photo/video, 6 months, 2003. Male student who completed in February 2004 and is now working at the Visual Arts Council. 4. Fellowship at SKA in curatorship, 6 months, 2004. Female student, presently at SKA. 5. Fellowship in sculpture, 6 months, 2005. 10
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Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism The students who now study at SKA (two quota students and one at a six month fellowship) started out as volunteers at VAC and have participated in the workshops that were conducted under phase one of the project. According to one of them, VAC has been “raised from dust through the support from Norad” – indicating the importance of the project for institution building of the council. Both students say that the participants have appreciated the workshops very much and that they have learned about new materials and new concepts of art. They added, however, that the degree to which artists benefit from the workshops depend upon their background and for some of them two to three weeks is too short. The students emphasise the importance of the equipment that the project has brought with it. Among other things, the equipment helps the council generate income that can be used to pay the staff. For the prospects of sustainability, it is also very positive that one of the students at SKA, Jerry Miko, has specialised in creating art out of garbage, a skill he hopes to pass on to other artists and children when he is back in Zambia. Together with another student, Miko was selected to represent SKA at an international exhibition in Finland where he created a “town” from almost 700 kg of discarded computers. All the three students who are presently at SKA plan to return home when they are through with their studies.
2.6 Formal degrees in choral conducting, South Africa Norsk Korforbund (NK) Norwegian Choir Association
University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), South Africa
Under apartheid rule, University of Port Elizabeth was a white (Afrikaans) university, but it now has an increasing percentage of black and coloured students. UPE is situated in one of the poorest regions of South Africa. In order to reach the disadvantaged communities in the area, the project, through their co-ordinator at UPE, has organised a number of “satellites” where students meet for weekend courses.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The objective of the project is to expose South African choral conductors to the international music arena by means of a practical choral conducting education and to empower them through a joint academic program. One important aspect is to make the University of Port Elizabeth and its academic courses more relevant to the communities it serves (funding 2002-2004: NOK 1 645 463). The funding from SIU is used to cover administrative expenses at UPE, subsidise the courses to enable people from disadvantaged communities to study, and to bring staff from Norway to take part in the teaching. 1. Certificate in Applied Choral Conducting. 87 students, 1-2 years 2. Applied Choral Conducting Diploma. 19 students, 3-4 years 3. Advanced Applied Choral conducting. 3 students, 2 years 4. Master Degree in Choral Conducting. 4 students, 2 years 11
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Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism Approximately 80 percent of the students at the lower levels take their final exam. It is perceived as a problem that many of the students at this level lack good study techniques/routines. Since many of the students at the lower levels are teachers, the impact of the program appears to be considerable. While the lower levels mainly offer opportunities for people from the disadvantaged communities (black and coloured) in one of the country’s poorest regions, all the students at the MA level are white. It has been an important aspect of the project to bridge the different communities in South Africa. Taken that the MA graduates will eventually work in mixed institutions, the project’s investment in them will benefit also the disadvantaged groups. A very positive result of this project is the high number of beneficiaries who actually get university qualifications.
2.7 Ph.D course in choral conducting, South Africa Norges Musikkhøgskole (NMH) Norwegian Academy of Music
University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), South Africa
This project is done in collaboration with Norwegian Choir Association and is part of the above project, but with separate funding for the Ph.D. level. In addition to the Ph.D. programme, the funding is used to bring the MA students to Norway for shorter visits.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The objective of the project is to develop a Ph.D programme in Choral Conducting at UPE. The programme is intended to embrace the musicology and music problems connected to choral conducting traditions (funding 20022004: NOK 1 317 570). 1. Scholarships for four Ph.D students in Choral Conducting at UPE. The scholarships include three visits to NMH over three years, each visit lasting one month. 2. Collaboration with NK (the above project) on MA programme in Choral Conducting. The MA students visit NMH for approximately one month every year.
Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism Progress among the students is reported to be good and so far all the students have returned to South Africa after their stays in Norway. With a Ph.D the graduates receive a considerable higher level of professionalism, and will contribute positively to the academic study of music in South Africa. However, since they are affiliated to other institutions than UPE, they are
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unlikely to strengthen this institution. As with the MA students, all the Ph.D candidates are white.
2.8 Instrument making for students from Zimbabwe Musical Instrument Academy (MIA)
Africa University (Zimbabwe)
This project was initiated in 1999, prior to the Programme in Arts and Cultural Education. Since the students were enrolled in a four year programme, however, it was decided that they should get funding from SIU to complete their studies. Africa University is a private university under the United Methodist church. Contact with the Norwegian Musical Instrument Academy,12 which is also connected to the Methodist church, was made in 1997. The two institutions entered an agreement and secured funding from Norad to give ten students training in instrument making in Norway. Together with staff from MIA, one of the professors at Africa University was in charge of recruiting the students through practical and theoretical tests. None of the selected students came from Africa University, but they were all Methodists.
Programme activities and output as of November 2004 The main objective of the project was to give Zimbabwians professional skills in instrument making (funding 2002-2004: NOK 3 366 515). The funding has been used to cover scholarships, tuition and administrative expenses, and comes in addition to the NOK 3,5 millions that were spent prior to the SIU programme. 1. Instrument making course at MIA, 4 years. Initially, ten students were enrolled at MIA in December 1999, eight male and two female. One student fell sick during the first year and was unable to continue. Of the remaining students, only four have taken the school’s final exam. These students expressed interest in taking the high ranking German certificate, something that entailed six extra months in Norway. MIA received extra funding from SIU to enable them to do so (NOK 400 000). Only one of the four students turned up for the exam.
Degree to which the project has strengthened the local institution and contributed to professionalism For this particular project, initiated prior to the Programme in Arts and Cultural Education, strengthening of the local institution was not among the goals. Although Africa University was a partner in the project, none of the students came from this institution. As for professionalism, the students have certainly acquired new skills in instrument making over the years that they have studied at MIA. The institution was, however, disappointed about the low levels of efforts that many of the students displayed soon after entering 12
The Musical Instrument Academy is presently closed due to charges of mismanagement. The project in question is part of the charges, but only issues that concern the students’ progress will be discussed in this report.
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the school. This, it is said, provoked also their fellow students. Several of the students spent more time on income generating activities outside of the school than they did studying. Notwithstanding low levels of efforts, it is the opinion of the school that most of the students would have passed the school exam without problems, but that they simply did not bother to try. Several of the students left their equipment behind, equipment that they had been provided with in order to start their own practice. One of the students started his own workshop in Norway, while others reside in South Africa, England, Sweden and possibly Mozambique. As far as the institution is informed, only one of the ten students is back in Zimbabwe.
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3 Programme results and local priorities The brief presentations of the projects in chapter two reveal that the degree to which the programme has strengthened the arts and cultural sector in the countries in question varies considerably. Examples of projects that have been able to achieve both the two major goals of the programme are the NOTA project on modern music at Bagamoyo College of Arts, Tanzania, the Art Academy without Walls in Zambia, and choral conducting in South Africa. The collaborations with Dhow Countries Music Academy, Zanzibar and the Dance Foundation Course in Zimbabwe also have positive results, but are weaker on the long term strengthening of the institutions. The project on cultural heritage and tourism in Bagamoyo, and the project providing training in instrument making for Zimbabweians have not fulfilled the objectives in a satisfactory way. In both cases, this appears to be first and foremost a result of inexperience. On the basis of the experiences made, what factors contribute to positive effects, and what factors may be a hindrance for reaching the overall objective of the programme? First, successful projects are characterised by having long term relationships with their partners. The Norwegian institutions emphasise that it takes time to build a good working relationship based on equality. As one informant put it, “in the beginning they expected allowances to attend a meeting with us, but that is all gone now.� Students from the south say that when coming to a new and strange country, they appreciate very much the support they have received from their hosts, the project leaders. Factors that contribute to make students return home are loyalty to their home institution and opportunities for employment. Political unrest in the partner country and lack of discipline among the students, on the other hand, are factors that may be a hindrance for reaching the objectives of the programme. We will now look closer at issues that may have an effect on the implementation of the projects, as well as local priorities.
3.1 Variations in terms of output When we look at the actual ouput of the different projects compared to the input (see table 1), there is little doubt that the project on choral conducting in South Africa has given the largest output in terms of education. By letting the students study in the south, far more students can benefit for the same amount of money compared to bringing students for long term studies in Norway. One important issue to consider, however, is the quality and availability of higher education within arts in the south. In South Africa, quality institutions are in place, it is more a question of funding. In Tanzania, on the other hand, UDSM, the only the university offering BA and MA degrees in music and theatre arts, lacks instruments and well qualified staff. As we will come back to, sandwhich models seem more appropriate in this situation. The students who study or have studied in Norway emphasise not only the practical and academic knowledge that they gain, but also the value of seeing different ways of life, alternative teaching methods, and so on. 15
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Table 1. Project activities and funding Project
Main activities and results 2002-2004
Funding 2002-04 Total
Traditional music, Dhow Countries Music Academy, Zanzibar, Tanzania Modern music, Bagamoyo College of Arts, Tanzania Cultural heritage and tourism, Tanzania Modern dance, Dance Foundation Course, Zimbabwe Visual arts, National Visual Arts Council, Zambia
3 workshops for ca. 18 participants Exchange visits, musical training, Scholarships for local students to study at Dhow Countries Music Academy Sound production, 1 year at HIS Modern music, 2 years at HIS Modern dance, 2 years at HIS Survey with 523 respondents in Bagamoyo Literature research, report writing Choreography, 1 year at SBH Bachelor of dance, 3 years at SBH Bachelor of dance, 3 years at SBH Workshop in drawing and performance, 25 participants Workshop on photography, 16 participants Digital photo/video, 6 months at SKA Curatorship, 6 months at SKA Certificate, 87 students, 1-2 years (80% pass) Diploma, 19 students, 3-4 years Advanced level, 3 students, 2 years Master Degree, 4 students, 2 years 4 PhD. Scholarships at UPE Visits to Norway (Ph.D and MA students) Course at MIA, 4 years, 9 students (4 have taken the exam)
1 093 045 1 847 245
Choral conducting, University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa Ph.D. Course in Choral Conducting Instrument making, Zimbabwe
1 138 980 1 368 980 640 262 1 017 345 1 666 840 2 156 840 917 439 1 419 439
1 645 463 2 191 213 1 317 570 1 857 670 3 366 515
Projects where students study to achieve a degree or diploma contribute more to long term capacity building for the individual and institution than projects that are solely based on workshops. At the same time, the higher level of studies to be sponsored, the more expensive. A Ph.D programme therefore, obviously gives less output in form of number of students for the same amount of money, but may contribute to sustainability in the long run if these students are given positions at institutions for higher learning in the home country.
3.2 Public and private institutions have different needs On the Norwegian side, all the institutions except the Music Instrument Academy are governmental. Among the main partners in the south, however, half are non-governmental. Governmental and private/non-governmental institutions have very different institutional opportunities and constraints. Bagamoyo College of Arts, for example, can not fire non-performing teachers and has little opportunity to differentiate the wage system according to level and efficiency of the staff.13 Dhow Countries Music Academy on the other 13
According to several observers, absentism is high among some of the BCA teachers.
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hand, states in their administrative report that they aim at having “less but well trained instructors.” 14 This means that all the instructors are given an “opportunity to advance”, but also that teachers who are not dedicated are fired. Students at DCMA say that the academy is more “free and flexible” than governmental institutions and therefore functions better. As experience from other fields has shown, collaboration with nongovernmental institutions may be both easier and more efficient than with governmental institutions. If the NGO is comparatively small, like DCMA, it is also far easier to measure a real impact of the resources spent, compared to a large governmental institution. At the same time, government institutions are generally more stable and sustainable, since private institutions tend to be more vulnerable to changes in donor funding and the quality of the management. As a guiding line, therefore, co-operation projects should take place with formal educational institutions. In cases where nongovernmental, private institutions fill a gap that no governmental institution fulfil (as is in fact the case with the three non-governmental institutions that have received support through the programme), projects that aim at giving students formal qualifications should still be considered for support.
3.3 Priorities of institutions in the south Partners in the south are generally very positive about all the projects. The consultant got the impression that respondents were careful not to say anything negative that could affect the prospects of further funding negatively. There is also the chance that stake holders in the south may give very positive evaluations of projects that have benefited them personally (i.e. through allowances) but not really contributed to a strengthening of the institution. Similarly, staff members who have not benefited from a project may find it hard to appreciate the positive role that the project may have had for the institution as such. It is a well known fact that donor funded projects may cause jealousy and conflicts at the participating institutions. In the case of the cultural programme, however, these problems appear to have been minor. One viewpoint that came through from stake holders representing two different institutions in the south is that the gap between Norway and the recipient countries in Africa is very big, and that co-operation which also included another partner in the south would in fact have been more beneficial. For example, the music cooperation with Dhow Countries Music Academy would have benefited from involving an institution in Palestine or another country with close connections to Zanzibar’s musical tradition. Plans for this are underway. Likewise, one of the Zambian students said that for most artists in his home country, artists from Western countries have a concept of art which is too different from their own . He had noticed that when South African artists visited workshops in Zambia, what these artists presented made far more sense to local artists than did contributions from the North. “What they call contemporary art in Europe”, he said, “is never understood in 14
Dhow Countries Music Academy. End of Semester Administrative Report May – October 2004, page 8.
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Africa”. It should be added, however, that the Art Academy without Walls project has indeed succeeded in giving African artists acknowledgement in the West. Two of the participants have received Ford Foundation scholarships to go to New York, and another member has just opened an exhibition in Paris. In cases where south-south collaboration is considered, this should be an expressed wish from all the parties involved, and the institutions in the south should preferably invest some of their own resources in a process of making the south-south collaboration independent of the partner in the north. Exchange of personnel between institutions in the south through the Norwegian Peace Corps programme is one option for funding of collaboration outside of the cultural education programme. Institutions that have received different forms of equipment emphasises the importance of this support. Compared to the project expenses on travel and per diems, investment in instruments, artistic equipment, books, etc is often comparatively low, and should be increased. Participants at the workshops Music Education for Children (DCMA), for example, said that they were sorry that they had not been given a copy of the book/CD that was used during the workshop, since this would have helped them employ what they had learned. Institutions like BCA and University of Dar es Salaam have an acute lack of instruments. The staff, however, acknowledge that better routines should be developed to take care of the instruments. When equipment is given as part of projects therefore, plans for storage and maintenance should be worked out. In the case of the Visual Art Council, digital and photographic equipment provided through the project clearly secures sustainability since commercial use of it provides income which is used to pay the staff. None of the visited institutions refer directly to the programme in their strategic plans. One reason is that the institutions often have to relate to many donors. DCMA for example, receives support from ten different institutions and a number of private well-wishers and volunteers. This institution, however, produces very informative “end of term” administrative reports where the workshops and exchange visits of the Norad programme are documented together with other activities. In the case of BCA, the Principal says that the programme activities are integrated in the overall plans but not referred to as such.
3.4 Recruitment of students All institutions report that there have been negotiations between the partners concerning which students should be given the chance to study in Norway. While the Norwegian institutions prioritise students who are artistically strong, the institutions in the south often have other priorities. In the case of the Dance Foundation Course, an audition was arranged and prospective candidates were interviewed by representatives from both partner institutions. In 2002, the school wanted to send a woman, while Ballethøgskolen preferred a male, among other things because the college has a large surplus of female students. The Dance Foundation accepted the arguments of SBH.
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In the case of Bagamoyo College of Arts, there were no auditions, but both parties presented their priorities. BCA strongly disapproved of the favourite candidate of Høgskolen i Stavanger, arguing that this student had a tendency to use drugs. Consequently, HIS gave in to BCAs priorities, despite the fact that they felt that other candidates would have more artistic potential. The main argument of the BCA management is that they know their students well and that only those who have good academic potential and a flawless social record should be sent for studies abroad. However, there has also been a tendency over several years that when the school selects students for exchange visits, studies or volunteer work abroad, they favour students who are in some way related to either teachers at the college or to high ranking officials in the relevant Ministry. When asked about this, the Vice Principal at the college confirmed that the school management is under strong pressure from the Ministry in these processes. In some cases, students who are recruited in this way are indeed among the best, and would perhaps have been selected even on a “free and fair” basis, but the system does give talented students without connections a feeling of unfair play. Both the Principal at BCA and Norwegian Peace Corps volunteers who have worked at the school confirm that there is a certain degree of corruption in regard to admission to the school and the grades awarded. One solution to the problem of favouritism would be for the institution in the north to insist on an open audition and to make its own voice stronger in the selection process. However, there have also been cases where candidates selected by the north on artistic and/or humanitarian grounds have turned out to have personal problems that have made their stays in Norway problematic for the host institutions and for themselves. A balance therefore, has to be struck to avoid, at the one hand, unfair favouritism, and, at the other, candidates who may not be personally fit for the role. It is important to note that favouritism only appears to have taken place at one of the institutions involved in the programme. Ideally, candidates should be both artistically and academically strong, and at the same time have the kind of loyalty to their home institution and home country that will secure the programme’s objective in the long run and not only benefit them personally. As mentioned earlier, the students from BCA all seem very loyal to their institution and express that their goal is to get a position at the school. Just the fact that they do have connections, may indeed help them feel that they have opportunities back home, in contrast to students who lack such contacts. In the Art Academy without Walls project the question of selection has been solved in yet another way. Here, the Visual Arts Council recruits all the candidates for the workshops without involvement from the Kunstakademi. Only in a few individual cases have SKA felt that the wrong persons had been selected. When it comes to fellowships to study in Norway, the Norwegian institution shortlists three candidates for each of the fellowships, and leaves it to the Visual Arts Council to make the final selection among the three. This model appears to be something that other partnerships could use as well.
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Most students have middle class background Overall, the students interviewed for this study (Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) appear to have middle/lower middle class background. They are children of civil servants and industry workers, and do not belong to what one would consider the “elite” in their home countries. None of the students from Tanzania belong to the ethnic groups that traditionally dominate higher learning. One of the Zimbabweian students was recruited to the Dance Foundation through their outreach programme in low income, high density areas. As for the students in South Africa, the 87 students at the lower levels are mostly black and coloured, while the eight students taking MA and Ph.D degrees are all white. According to the coordinator of the project at the Norwegian side, no students from the traditionally disadvantaged groups qualified for the higher degrees in the first round. While it would perhaps have had a good “signal effect” that at least one of the students at the higher levels was black or coloured, it is important for the sustainability of the projects that the candidates with the highest academic potentials are given the chance. It should also be considered that the efforts at building a new South Africa may be affected negatively if all donor projects are targeted at the formally disadvantaged only.
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4 Recommendations On the basis of the experiences and challenges of the first phase of the programme, this chapter presents six recommendations on how the implementation of the programme can be improved in the future.
4.1 Binding contracts and plans for post-studies employment One of the projects stand out as having particularly low outcome compared to the input, and this is the training of Zimbabwean students at the Music Instrument Academy. What can we learn from this case? According to the programme coordinator, part of the problem was that some of the students were very young, only 18 years old, and that the number of students, ten, was far too high. She also says that despite having visited Zimbabwe, the Norwegian institution was totally unprepared for the cultural differences between the two countries. The fact that several of the students brought their families to Norway added to the administrative work load of the school. The overall major problem however, seems to be related to discipline. The students did not attend classes, some were involved in petty thefts, and less than half of them took the final exam. One of the students neglected his studies to such a degree that the school decided to expel him. The lack of institutional attachment in the home country appears to have been a major problem. At Statens Ballethøgskole, also hosting students from Zimbabwe, discipline has not been a problem to speak of. Based on experience however, the two partner institutions have formulated a special contract that each student has to sign before commencing their studies. The contract states that all classes are compulsory and that attendance is a condition for continued residence permit. Through the contract, the student also accepts to work at the Dance Foundation Course during holidays in Zimbabwe, and to write regular reports on their progress. At Dhow Countries Music Academy, students and staff similarly sign a contract before making trips abroad. In the contract, all terms and economic conditions are made clear. It is recommended that all projects have binding contracts with their students to avoid both misunderstandings and misuse of the scholarships. Students from Bagamoyo College of Arts and Visual Arts Council stand out as being loyal to their home institution and planning to work there. In the case of BCA, this may have to do with the close relationships between the school and the students, as discussed earlier. In the case of VAC, the Norwegian project leader says that they have spent much time explaining to the students that the opportunity to study in Norway is something they get on behalf of their institution and country, something to be shared, not something that is meant to benefit them as individuals only. The students give an impression of having internalised these ideas. In the case of both Tanzania and Zambia, political stability and optimistic prognoses for the future certainly affect the students’ plans for returning home. 21
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In the next phase of the programme, “after use” of the students should be an integrated part of the project descriptions. One option is to provide financial resources to the institutions in the south to enable them to employ the graduates at a competitive pay. Another possibility is to include a scholarship for further studies in the home country to make them qualify for a permanent position. Since the institution building component of the programme is the part that has proved hardest to accomplish, this aspect should be given more attention all through the process.
4.2 “Sandwhich” degrees should be encouraged A major objective of the programme is to contribute to professionalisation. As presented in chapter two, BCA graduates who study in Stavanger do not get a degree, due to lack of basic qualifications, and do therefore not qualify for positions at BCA. One solution to this problem would be that the students take the final one or two years of the BA degree at the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Dar es Salaam. This kind of “sandwhich” degree, where the partner institutions come to an agreement where the student takes part of the degree in her home country, and part of it in Norway, is common in many other fields, but has not bee tried out in the cultural programme. Sandwhich degrees would have several advantages for the programme. First, one would avoid the problem that BCA students have faced – leaving with a diploma and coming back home with a diploma. At the University of Dar es Salaam, tuition fees and living expenses add up to approximately Tsh. 3 million a year (NOK 18 500). Considering the costs to have a student studying in Norway, it would be more rational to shorten the stay in Norway from two years to one, and then add two to three years at UDSM in order to secure the formal qualifications that may in turn enable them to take part in the capacity building of BCA. Sandwhich degrees could also be arranged with universities in other African countries. Secondly, having an agreement where the student is sponsored to complete her studies in the home country, may enhance the chance of the student returning home. Third, through sandwhich solutions, students can share what they have learned abroad at an early stage. In this way, the home institution will benefit from the programme even in cases where the student ends up not working at the targeted institution after having completed her studies. Before planning sandwhich models, the partners should consult institutions that have experience with this kind of co-operation (i.e. projects that have received support under Norad’s fellowship programme).
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4.3 Improve co-ordination In order to have a forum to discuss the overall challenges and developments within the programme, SIU invited representatives from Norad and the Norwegian partner institutions to a one-day seminar in Agder in May 2004. One of the topics discussed was co-ordination. The participants appreciate this opportunity to meet and share experiences very much, but collaboration and co-ordination still leave a lot to be desired. For example, three of the projects that have received support from SIU co-operate with Bagamoyo College of Arts in one way or another, but they have never come together to discuss experiences and/or a common strategy. This is especially surprising in regard to Hotellhøgskolen and Musikkhøgskolen in Stavanger, since the two are departments of the same University. In the project application of the former, the university’s cooperation with Bagamoyo College of Arts was even used as an argument for why the new project should get support. In the 2002 application of Ballethøgskolen and Dance Foundation Course for a continuation of their project in Zimbabwe, collaboration with Bagamoyo College of Arts in Tanzania was envisaged. However, when the representatives of SBH visited BCA and learned that School of Arts Education already had a project there, they decided to leave the idea. A first requirement for improved co-ordination is that all the institutions that receive support from SIU are informed about the other projects. Secondly, there is really no reason why a Norwegian institution should avoid co-operation with an institution in the south just because another Norwegian institution already has a project there. On the contrary, short or long term exchange of students between BCA and the Dance Foundation Course may be positive for both parties, since the former appears to be stronger on traditional dance and the latter stronger on modern dance. Both Norwegian institutions and institutions in the south appear to be protective, almost secretive, about their partnerships. For example, the management of BCA never mentioned the heritage project for their NOTA partners at Stavanger Musikkhøgskole. Participants should not only be informed (and keep themselves informed) about activities within the programme, but also other initiatives within cultural co-operation. One of the students at the Music Academy, the only one who took the German certificate, was very frustrated to learn that Norad was sponsoring a music project in South Africa and that people had already been recruited before she was informed. She felt that the situation in Zimbabwe was too unsafe for her to return at the moment (especially since she is white), but given the opportunity, she would much rather use her skills in South Africa than to live and work in Sweden.
4.4 University level requirement should be removed All the Norwegian institutions have positive experiences from their working relationship with SIU. The SIU staff, despite high turn-over in recent years, are characterised as being positive, flexible and predictable. Some emphasise that SIU, in contrast to Norad, has special competence in education and the 23
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particular challenges and needs of this sector. One aspect that some of the partners have found problematic, however, is the SIU requirement that cooperations should be with, or at least include, university level institutions. Both the Høgskolen i Agder - Dhow Countries Music Academy partnership and Hotellhøgskolen - Bagamoyo College of Arts involved the University of Dar es Salaam as a result of this requirement. In the former case, this forced marriage has proved problematic and resulted in a somewhat negative relationship between DCMA and UDSM. To begin with, Dhow Countries Music Academy was very interested in developing a joint degree/certificate with the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at University of UDSM in order to give their students formal qualifications. After having worked together at the “Music Education for Children” workshops, however, relations soured. Both parties confirm that UDSM delegates were dissatisfied with the allowances offered.15 At the moment, a DCMA draft for a proposed certificate program awaits approval from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music of UDSM. The draft was submitted in April this year, but so far they have had no response. In the mean time, DCMA has contacted the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in London and started the process of having their students take exams under this institution. The fact that the plans for a joint degree collapsed is unfortunate, not the least for the students at UDSM. Had the agreement come through, they would have been offered practical training at DCMA, where the level is actually higher than at the university and the musical equipment better. Since education within culture and arts is different from other sectors, especially when it comes to the importance of practical training, the university requirement should be removed. At DCMA, for example, the instructors are highly talented musicians who have little formal education, often primary school only. Some of them come from families of famous musicians and have grown up with the taarab tradition. While it is the goal of DCMA to give their students formal qualifications, there is little doubt that the academy plays a role that UDSM at the moment does not. This comes through particularly strongly concerning instruments that are in danger of disappearing in the region. According to one of the teachers, most of the musicians are 70 year old or more, and when they die, there would be no one to replace them if it was not for the academy, since electronic instruments have taken over. He said that in regard to an instrument like the Arabic kanon, there are presently only six musicians in the whole of Tanzania. BCA has played a somewhat similar role for mainland instruments (like finger piano marimba and the traditional harp), but does unfortunately not seem to have produced new specialists on these instruments. The 2002 COWI report criticised the NOTA project for providing training on violin which, it was perceived, was not a relevant instrument for BCA. Since violin is a central instrument in the taarab
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DCMA offered travel, hotel and lunch covered, as well as Tsh. 10 000 ($10) in per diem, while the UDSM delegates wanted the governmental rate of Tsh. 40 000 ($40) per day for both staff and students. (For comparison: a newly employed primary school teacher earns Tsh. 100 00 a month, a college teacher around 200 000).
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tradition, however, it is just as relevant for the college as the guitar, trumpet and so on.
4.5 Less emphasis on workshops While workshops may be a practical way to get to know each other in the early phase of co-operation, it should not be the major component of a long term project, unless they are, as in the case of the Art Academy without Walls, used in a process to achieve formal qualifications. First, as discussed earlier, the concrete results of workshops are vague compared to formal education and they do generally not help the participants qualify for positions. Secondly, concerning visitors from the north, representatives in the south said that they much preferred long-term stays, since it is hard to learn new techniques and musical skills in workshops lasting one to two weeks. Some of the institutions, like Bagamoyo College of Arts, also seem to be almost overloaded with short time workshops from a number of visiting institutions from the north. One reason is that such co-operation is comparatively easy to get funding for compared to more long term projects, and they are also an attractive form of co-operation for the institutions in the north. According to one of the respondents in the south, however, short stays from partners in the north requires a lot of administration, and the project costs in monetary terms are, it was said, “extremely high compared to what they can actually leave behind”. For most of the college level institutions in the south, Norwegian students or volunteers with a BA or MA degree in music or art can do a satisfactory job, and at a much lower price than permanent university staff who travel on official per diem rates. The “added value” of having professors or other permanent university staff come regularly to teach short term courses or conduct workshops do not seem to justify the high costs, at least not at college level (the case is different for MA and Ph.D degrees). All projects, however, should be administered by high level staff members who are in regular contact with the partner institution, and who take part in the selection of new candidates for scholarships, exchange visits, and volunteer positions. Another reason to downsize the importance of workshops is that they are, at least in Tanzania, perceived as qualitatively different from education (elimu) and something that brings forth very different connotations. While people after structural adjustment have become willing to pay for education, workshops, on the contrary, are something they expect to be paid for. As one of the primary school teacher participants at the “Music Education for Children” workshops somewhat self-ironically put it after complaining about the level of allowances: “You know, when we hear that there is a workshop coming up, we immediately think money!” Expectations about allowances seem to be cemented in Tanzania, but are reportedly almost absent in South Africa (which has a shorter history of donor involvement). It is interesting that the project in South Africa appears to be the only one where the students pay to partake. Although highly subsidised to enable people from disadvantaged communities to participate, each student at the lower levels pay around R. 800 (NOK 800) per year. The goal for the 25
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cultural programme should be to offer studies or workshops which participants in the south find so useful and attractive that they would either be willing to pay for it, or at least not expect high allowances. In the case of the heritage project for example, interested participants could have been offered a short course in SPSS for a symbolic fee. This would have limited participation to the ones who were really interested, and at the same time contributed to capacity building. Another lesson to learn from the workshops on Music Education for Children is that one should avoid mixing people with very different qualifications at the same workshops. In this particular case, participants from UDSM expressed that they were overqualified, and that they were functioning as facilitators rather than learning anything themselves. The nursery/primary school teachers who attended the workshop confirmed that they felt that the people from UDSM and BCA were superior to them, and that the participants from these institutions understood the instructions much faster than themselves. Bringing UDSM into the collaboration was, we may recall, a result of the SIU requirements.
4.6 Encourage expansion of co-operation through the Peace Corps Several of the projects have secured additional funding for their projects. Agder University College, for example, received support from FN Sambandet to invite three musicians from DCMA to Kristiansand for two weeks. The musicians gave a number of performances and participated in workshops. The NOTA project has recently received support from the Norwegian embassy in Dar es Salaam to attend training in the LFA method and has applied for continued funding from the embassy. The by far most important additional funding for this project however, and something that should be encouraged for other partners within the cultural programme, is exchange through the Norwegian Peace Corps. The Norwegian Peace Corps sponsors exchange of volunteers between institutions in Norway and partner countries in the south. Volunteers should be between 22 and 35 years in age (or between 55 and 70 for the senior volunteer programme). Institutions active within the cultural field are particularly well suited for this kind of exchange since culture, in contrast to fields like health and technology, is complementary for both parties participants from both sides have something unique and attractive to offer their hosts. The NOTA project of BCA and School of Arts Education, Stavanger, has had great success with their exchange through the Peace Corps. Two young music teachers from Stavanger taught at BCA for 18 months. Both staff and students at the college report that they did a fantastic job and that they would have liked them to stay longer. Informants emphasise that the impact of such long term exchange is much greater than the workshop model. Similarly, two graduates from BCA with experience from teaching children, worked at Kulturskolen in Stavanger in collaboration with School of Arts Education. The 26
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hosts say that the two volunteers were simply perfect for this task. Before they were recruited, the Norwegian partners observed the two candidates at work with primary school children in Tanzania. The Tanzanian volunteers say that they learned a lot from their stay in Norway, both personally and in practical terms. Through the collaboration with School of Arts Education, they were offered to take part in music classes at the University, and one of them received individual tuition on trumpet, a skill he now teaches at BCA. After their return, the two volunteers have been working at BCA, but not in permanent positions (due to the requirements discussed earlier). Both of them have larger work loads than many of the teachers in permanent positions because they can teach a wide variety of subjects. After an agreement between the School of Arts Education and BCA, NOK 1 500 of their monthly salary in Norway was deducted and paid to BCA. Since their return, BCA has paid the two teachers a monthly allowance of Tsh. 100 000 (NOK 614). While this arrangement is good for institution building at BCA, it is probably not in line with Peace Corps regulations, and very unfair to the two volunteers, as they end up working three years or more for a pay that was originally meant to last for one year. The two teachers have not been informed how long they are expected to work under these conditions, and feel shy to ask. 16 The idea that volunteers should work at their home institution after returning home is good, but in cases where permanent positions are not available, the volunteers should either be given a chance to study in order to qualify, or project money should be used to pay their salary for a given number of years. As noted earlier, Balletthøgskolen has also applied for exchange through the Peace Corps. It is the opinion of the consultant that such expansion of the cooperation should be encouraged. Among other things, volunteers from Norway may replace staff from the south who are studying as part of the SIU programme. It should be noted however, that the success of the NOTA Peace Corps exchange probably is closely connected to the long term relations between the two institutions. For institutions that are just beginning their cooperation, Peace Corps arrangement should probably wait.
16
One of the two teachers is on leave from a position at a primary school and receives this salary as well, but it is still extremely hard to support a family on the money he now earns.
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5 Concluding remarks This review of the cultural programme takes place at a point in time when the programme has been in function for two years only. For several of the projects the final outcome is yet unclear, as students are still studying. Due to the short time frame, it is harder for projects that started from scratch under this programme to show concrete results, compared to projects that have a prehistory under the Cultural Department of Norad. The overall impression, however, is that the programme has been conducted according to the agreement. The only obvious exception to this is the instrument making project, which was initiated prior to the programme. Of the two main objectives; to strengthen the cultural institutions in the partner countries and to contribute to the professionalisation of the artists and the art forms, the former is the hardest to achieve. One reason is that it is limited what one partner from the north with a restricted budget can contribute with. Another reason is that there is no guarantee that students who are offered fellowships to study in Norway return to their home institution. In the Programme in Arts and Cultural Education, students from Zimbabwe stand out as a group that seldom returns home. Students from Tanzania and Zambia, on the other hand, go back and work at their home institution, as the programme envisages. Phase one of the programme limited applications for new projects to collaborations with institutions in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. This list could be expanded, but with the experiences we have up to now, collaboration should be limited to politically stable countries. There has been an ongoing in debate in Norad whether support should be directed directly to institutions in the south rather than through Norwegian institutions. To what degree do the Norwegian institutions represent added value? 17 Institutions in the south (in this case Tanzania) appreciate long term stays by Norwegians who teach practical musical skills, but are less enthusiastic about short workshops. They also find studies in Norway very useful, not only for what they learn in class, but also in terms of social and cultural values, teaching techniques, and so on. It is the view of the consultant that the Norwegian partners have an important role to play in selecting the candidates (to avoid favouritism), and in facilitating the students’ stay in Norway. However, with the present system, the power relation between the partners has a strong bias towards the north. For example, one of the institutions in the south found it peculiar that they had to report economically to their Norwegian partner, while there was no requirement for reporting the other way. With the Norwegian partner being in charge of the money, there is the chance that institutions in the south will be careful not to criticise aspects of the projects that they are less satisfied with, and that they will accept priorities of the north that they do not necessarily 17
Prosjektlederseminar 2004.
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fully prioritise themselves. The administrative capacities of the institutions in the south vary, and some of them have histories of mismanagement of funds, favouritism etc. It is recommended, therefore, that the present system should be maintained, also because it means less administrative work for SIU than if the funds were to be dispersed directly to institutions in the south. As long as the goal of the programme is to strengthen the cultural sector in the south, more should be done to assess the priorities of the institutions there. One option is that the Norwegian embassies in the partner countries invite institutions active within culture for yearly meetings to discuss their views, needs, and priorities. Bagamoyo College of Arts, for example, which has received support from Norad over many years, said that they had never been invited to a meeting with the embassy independently of their partner. Written reports from meetings between the embassies and local institutions should be sent to the SIU committee and the Norad head office. The reports should be consulted when new applications are received. It may also be a good idea to have country experts look through the applications and give their advice and comments. The cultural heritage project in Bagamoyo, for example, would probably have benefited from this system. While the objective of the project is interesting and promising, the impact would have been much greater with better coordination with other ongoing projects in the town 18 and if MA or Ph.D students had been involved to write their thesis in connection with the project. 19 This project also illustrates the point made that it takes time to develop successful partnerships. A major recommendation is that the second phase of the programme should consider expanding the time frame of the projects from three to four years, or even longer. A longer time frame will make it easier to plan and follow-up sandwhich degrees, post-studies employment, and Peace Corps volunteer contracts - factors that are important to ensure that the programme achieves lasting effects on the cultural sectors in the target countries.
18
SIDA has a large scale rehabilitation/town planning project and REPOA/CMI/NIBR has a project on local governance that involves Bagamoyo. 19 According to the “Memorandum of Understanding” between National College of Tourism and Hotellhøgskolen “visits by and exchange of both graduate and undergraduate students for study and exchange” would be a desirable area of cooperation, but this has not been implemented so far.
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Appendix 1. List of interviews Scandinavian institutions Centre for International University Co-operation (SIU) Norwegian Embassy, Dar es Salaam Swedish Embassy, Dar es Salaam Agder University College
People met
Music Instrument Academy (MIA) Norwegian Academy of Music Norwegian Choir Association (NK) Oslo National College of the Arts (KHIO), Department of Ballet and Dance (SBH)
Grete Haaland, Project Administrator (telephone interview) Prof. Svein Bjørkøy (telephone interview) Kåre Hanken, Secretary General
Benedicte Solheim, Andreas Steigen, Committee Member (informal interview) Anne-Lise Langøy, Ambassadesektær Gudrun Leirvåg, Programme Officer Tormod Anundsen, Assistant Professor (telephone interview)
Fred Arild Pettersen, Higher Executive Officer Bright Wamwanduka, third year student Justin Thom, third year student
Oslo National College of the Arts (KHIO), Department of Fine Art (SKA)
Prof. Michael O’Donnell (telephone interview) Sylvia Mwando, 6 months scholarship Jerry Miko, in his fourth year at SKA
Stavanger University (HIS), School of Arts Education (AK)
Dag Jostein Nordaker, Director of Studies Venance Mathias, student, second year Rhoda Mitanda, student, second year Idar Hauge, Peace Corps volunteer at BCA Egil Ovesen, Peace Corps volunteer at BCA (telephone interview)
Stavanger University (HIS), Norwegian School of Hotel Management (NH)
Trude Furunes, Junior researcher (MA)
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Institutions in Tanzania
People met
Antiques Station, Bagamoyo Bagamoyo College of Arts (BCA)
Felix Ndugunguru, Senior Conservator of Antiquities Juma Bakari, Principal, participant in cultural heritage project and NOTA Emma Liwemba, Vice Principal, participant in cultural heritage project and NOTA Sixmunde Mbegashe, studied at HIS under the SIU programme 2003. Hussein Masimbi, Peace Corps volunteer Benignus Mbiro, Peace Corps volunteer Filemon Mwakalindile, studied at HIS (19992000), participant at DCMA workshop Basil Mbata, teacher, participant at DCMA workshop Mary Chibwana, teacher, traditional dance
Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA)
Hildegard Kiel, Managing Director Excel Michael, teacher at DCMA, workshop participant Hajjy Mohamed Omari, teacher at DCMA, workshop participant Mohammed Issa, teacher at DCMA, workshop participant Grace Zephania Msigala, teacher at primary school, workshop participant Radhia Salum Mohamed, teacher at primary school, workshop participant
University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Department of Fine and Performing Arts
Dr. Frowin Paul Nyonyi, Head of Department, participant in cultural heritage project Sabinus Komba, Kedmond Mapana, and Gladys John, students, participants at DCMA workshop
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Appendix 2. Terms of Reference Gjennomgang av Norads kulturutdanningsprogram 1. Bakgrunn Norad signerte tilleggsavtale mellom Norad og Universitets- og høgskolerådet av 28.04.2003. Avtalen forvaltes av Senter for internasjonalisering av høyere utdanning (SIU). Dette er en tilleggsavtale til avtalen mellom Norad og Universitetsog høgskolerådet ac 20.08. 2001 om faglig forvaltning av Norads stipendprogram. Avtalens punkt 5. sier at Norad vil evaluere kulturutdanningsprogrammet innen høsten 2004. Bakgrunnen for gjennomgangen er at det skal lages en ny avtale innen 2005 mellom Norad og SIU om forvaltningen av kulturutdanningsprogrammet. Prosjektene tilknyttet kulturutdanningsprogrammet kom senere i gang enn planlagt i 2003. I tillegg til å vurdere gjennomføringen av prosjektene skal gjennomgangen peke mot en fremtidig innretning av kulturutdanningsprogrammet. Vi viser til at Utenriksdepartementet har satt i gang en større uavhengig evaluering av stipendprogrammet i sin helhet. I tillegg har konsulentfirmaet UNICONSULT i november 2003 gått igjennom de administrative og økonomiske rammer for programmet slik at det ikke er nødvendig å inkludere dette som en del av gjennomgangen. Kulturutdanningsprogrammets mål i henhold til avtalen, er å bidra til profesjonalisering av kunstnere, kulturarbeidere og kunstformer i Sør, og bidra til gjensidig læring mellom de involverte samarbeidsinstitusjonene. For perioden 2003-2005 omfatter programmet samarbeidsprosjekter innen musikk, dans, drama/ teater, billedkunst/ skulptur og kulturminnevern. Gjennomgangen skal foretaes av en ekstern konsulent. 2. Hovedmål for gjennomgangen Formålet med gjennomgangen er å kartlegge hvorvidt programmet er gjennomført i henhold til avtalen og i hvilken grad kulturutdanningsprogrammet har styrket kunstog kultursektoren i land den omfatter. Gjennomgangen skal fokusere på potensialet for videreutvikling. Resultatene av gjennomgangen vil være en svært viktig del av grunnlaget for utarbeidelse av en ny samarbeidsavtale mellom Norad og SIU om kulturutdanningsprogrammet. 3. Problemstillinger for gjennomgangen • Gjennomgangen skal se på de foreløpige resultatene av programmet i forhold til målsetning • Gjennomgangen skal gi peke på om det er et adekvat forhold mellom utgifter og gjennomførte aktiviteter og komme med anbefalinger til justeringer. • Gjennomgangen skal kort vurdere andre finansieringskilder. • Gjennomgangen skal fange opp viktige erfaringer som kan bidra til en fremtidig bedre organisering av kulturutdanningsprogrammet. • Gjennomgangen skal vurdere samarbeidet mellom nord- og sørinstitusjonene med vekt på hva som gir merverdi for partnerne i sør
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• • •
og komme med anbefalinger til endringer for neste avtaleperiode som kan bidra til å styrke utbytte av samarbeidet i nord og sør. Gjennomgangen skal undersøke hvorvidt programmet er integrert i overordnede planer lokalt. Gjennomgangen skal kartlegge hvilken studentmålgruppe som er nådd. Løsningsorientert analyse med forslag/anbefalinger til hvordan kulturutdanningsprogrammet bør organiseres. Analysen skal ha et særlig fokus på hvorvidt variasjonen av type prosjekter innen programmet fremmer eller hemmer programmets målsetning.
4. Praktisk gjennomføring • Deskstudie av dokumentasjon fra SIU som viser i hvilken grad kulturutdanningsprogrammet oppfyller sine utalte mål. Deskstudien skal gjennomføres i forkant av feltbesøk. Følgende dokumenter er aktuelle å gå gjennom: Hovedavtalen mellom Norad og Universitets- og høgskolerådet av 20.08. 2001 og tilleggsavtalen som gjelder for kulturutdanningsprogrammet av 28.04.2003 . Beslutningsdokumentet til Norad for opprettelsen av tilleggsavtalen mellom Norad og Universitets- og høgskolerådet. Interim- og årsrapporter fra 2003, levert til SIU i hhv. september 2003 og mars 2004. Årsrapporten til stipend- og kulturutdanningsprogrammet 2003 revidert regnskap fra SIU 2002 og 2003. Rapporter fra workshops og seminarer som har vært avholdt som en del av kulturutdanningsprogrammet, perioden 2003/2004. Referat og andre dokumenter fra seminar med Norad kulturutdanningsprogram, mai 2004. Søknadene fra institusjonene som er grunnlaget for støtten dersom de kan gjøres tilgjengelig. Utlysningstekst for prosjektmidler, avtaler mellom SIU og institusjonene. Andre relevante dokumenter. •
Feltbesøk til samarbeidsinstitusjoner i Tanzania. Dette blir feltbasert sammenligningsgrunnlag for de antakelser og resultater som kommer frem i deskstudiet. Feltstudiet skal gjennomføres i oktober.
•
SIU har i samarbeid med Norad og partnerinstitusjonene ansvar for at konsulenten får tilgang til den nødvendige dokumentasjon og avtaler med institusjonen i sør og i Nord.
Oppdraget er beregnet til; Maks 3 uker. 5. Rapportering Rapporten skal ikke overskride 20 sider og inneholde et informativt sammendrag av rapporten med fokus på resultater. Rapporten skal også inneholde konkrete anbefalinger til Norad.
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Summary The Norad Programme in Arts and Cultural Education was established in 2002 and is administered by Centre for International University Co-operation (SIU). The total budget for the programme period (2002-2005) is NOK 15 millions. The main objectives of the programme are to strengthen the cultural institutions in the partner countries and to contribute to the professionalisation of the artists and the art forms. Norwegian institutions of higher learning collaborate with partners in Africa to achieve these goals through eight projects. Collaborations take the form of scholarships to study dance and music in Norway (Zimbabwe, Tanzania), arrangement of courses and degrees on choral conducting (South Africa), series of workshops providing artists with a diploma in fine arts (Zambia), workshops on music and music education for children (Tanzania), as well as research on the potentials of cultural heritage and tourism (Tanzania). A review of the results concludes that the great majority of the projects have fulfilled the two major goals of the programme in a satisfactory way. Projects that focus on formal qualifications and are part of larger, long term collaborations in politically stable countries are the most successful. The report discusses challenges met during the first phase of the programme and provides a number of recommendations for the next phase: • The programme should have a longer time frame • Training projects should focus on formal qualifications • The SIU requirement that partnerships must involve university level institutions should be removed • “Sandwhich” degrees should be encouraged • Co-operating partners should develop binding contracts for students • Project applications should include concrete plans for employment of the students to ensure strengthening of the institutions • Partners should consider to broaden and consolidate their partnerships
with
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Norwegian Peace Corps ISSN 0805-505X ISBN 82-8062-111-3
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Recent Reports R 2005: 4 R 2005: 3 R 2005: 2 R 2005: 1 R 2004: 13 R 2004: 12 R 2004: 11 R 2004: 10 R 2004: 9 R 2004: 8 R 2004: 7 R 2004: 6 R.2004: 5 R 2004: 4 R 2004: 3 R 2004: 2 R 2004: 1 R 2003: 14
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